Aijou and Bentos
by phsycocutie
Summary: Hinamori and Hitsugaya are sent earthside on what was suppose to be a 1 yr. mission that no one else was open for, but with their friednship detroyed over careless words, how are they going to manage spending a year together, ACTING AS A NEWLY WED COUPLE
1. It's such a shame, shame, shame

**Psychocutie;;** I don't feeling like writing anything so here, we're just going to get to the point!

**_by the way, I USE BIG WORDS. I USE THE DICTIONARY. AND I USE SPELL CHECK, SO GET OVER IT_**

**Hina-hitus in unison;;**psychocutie doesn' own bleach, though she'd love to go ask tite if she can buy us from him.. SAVE US- KEEP HER IN AMERICA!

Hinamori jumped up and screamed, "HITSUGAYA-KUN!" She blushed and looked around when she saw Yamamato-Taicho shaking her to wake her with Toushirou standing at the edge of the bed, Kuchiki-taicho standing by the door and Rangiku trying her best not to laugh with a hand pressed to her chest. Everyone in the room tried to hold in a their laughter but it hit all of them, EVEN BYAKUYA, the only one that didn't laugh was Toushirou, who simply glared at her in anger. He still wasn't letting it go.

_--FLASHBACK--_

_Hinamori and Toushirou were once more arguing about Aizen._

_Hinamori gave him a could look and the words slowly passed through her lips, "I. Hate. You."_

_Hitsugaya looked briefly hurt but it passed as he said, "and what? You love Aizen?"_

_Hinamori turned her back and started to walk away after throwing over her shoulder, "maybe I do."_

_-PRESENT-_

She could tell he was still angry, but tried not to look at him through out the meeting. Yamamoto told them of a new assignment and that there were many new hollows popping up and a pair of them were being sent to the land of the living to monitor it. That was when everyting went down hill, all the pairs were going to be gone on work and wouldn't be able to do it. He paused for a moment and Hinamori piped up, "Yamamoto-Taicho, Uhm, since this is very important and you need strong soul reapers, why is this taking place in my room?" Yamamoto gave a slight smile at her and then said, "why hinamori-fukutaicho, I was just getting to that..." He paused again in which time she blushed and apologized, then he continued, "You'll be leaving tomorrow -pause, turned to hinamori- Sorry for the short notice" Momo was officially confused, so was Toushirou, then he said, "since Matsumoto-fukutaicho, your subordinate will be indisposed, we've chosen another companion... We've assigned Hinamore-fukutaichou to the mission." That was the last she heard before Momo turned bright red, though not in happiness, and blacked out.

+;;The next day;;+

Hinamori awoke earlier than expected and went to see Yamamoto. He explained the mission, but left out a few things that he said Hitsugaya would explain when they got to the other side. She let, a little frustrated and got her things together, she was going to be earth-side for atleast one year, though he said it would probably be longer. She was taking her undergarments out and putting them in her bag when Matsumoto came to the door. She opened it and let her in, allowing her to sit on her bed while she packed. Rangiku giggled and picked up a piece of aqua lace that was mroe of a ribbon than an article of clothing, "so is this how you plan to apologize to Hitsugaya-taichou?" Momo turned bright red and snatched it back, mumbling, "no. I'm not- I don't think we will make up our friend ship.. I did and said some really bad things, Rangiku-san..." Matsumoto gave a girlie laugh and said, "oh no, Momo-chan, I wasn't referring to making up on a friendship level!" Momo's blush darkened causing her to get dizzy. She put a hand against the post on her bed then said, "R-R-RANGIKU!"

There was a little bit of silence as things grew tense, Matsumoto sughed and then said, "Momo, I need to ask you something before you leave... Do you still have feelings for Aizen?" Momo turned on her heel quickly away from Rangiku and she heard her sigh again, "momo, hes a trai-" She was cut off but momo's bitter response, "I feel nothing for him anymore. I was a fool." Matsumoto walked over and bent down to see Momo's face, she had tears trailing. (no this is not a hinamatsu moment, you sickos!) Matusmoto gave her a sisterly hug and said, "Momo, if you don't like him anymore, whats wrong?" She still had her arm around her shoulders when she sat her on the edge of her bed. Momo shuddered and coughed, trying to calm her tears. In a moment she mumured a quiet, "I was so stupid, I gave up the one person that I loved for someone who never even cared."

At that exact moment, Matusmoto knew what she meant, "It'll get better momo." Trying her best to lighten the mood, Rangiku pulled a small brown book from her bag and handed it to momo, it was a photo album, the first several chapters where before her fight with Histu then the others were after, little snapshots Matsumoto had gotten. He looked like hell.

Momo was still hugging the album when she led Matsumoto to the door. She hugged her goodbye before grabbing her bag, some of her other items then took off for the designated spot by the gates. Hitsugaya was waiting with Rangiku, Ichigo, Rukia, and Yamamoto. She shifted her bag on her back and looked down, uncomfortable already.

_Really? a year?_

_((hahaha, thought I was going to leav it off there didn't you?! well P your wrong, I'm having too much fun writing this one. There'll be a Hitsuhina moment beforethe end of this chapter. and for those of you that wonder, Why isn't ichigo there? what about rukia? Well, this is to answer both of those. Rukia and Ichigo are now a squad themselves ((after two captains commited treason and ran away to plot, so they are both captains now. I know I should've explained that. Also, They still remain in contact with Orihime, Chad and Ushida through Urahara adn Yoruichi, who coudln't deal with the problem because of... REASONs. sorry, I'm on a roll, and this is covering my bases, so P))_

Hinamori approached them slowly and kept her face down. It was true, she was still slightly hurt, but was making a good recovery and should have been fully recovered by the time their year was up. That is, if nothing went wrong. She noticed Ichigo glance over to her and she looked up, smiled and waved at both Ichigo and Rukia. They had been there when Hitsugaya and her had fought, and helped her through everything. Why were they there though? To see them off actually, and just that, okay maybe not, but that's okay. Rangiku and Rukia shared a secret nod before grabbing momo's upper arms and dragging her away, Matusmoto throwing over her shoulder, "GIRL MOMENT, BE BACK IN A MINUTE!" Ichigo wondered over to Toushirou as Yamamoto walked to himself (o.0), he pulled toushirou closer and whispered close to his ear (not that way FREAKING PERVERTS STOP IT!) "Toushirou, do you know what they are doing?" Toushirou pulled away and turned his head away in indifference, "I don't care." Ichigo gave a short, rather manly chuckle and said, "You should..." That was when the girls came back, with a red, puffy Momo in tow.

She turned to Toushirou and mumbled a low, "We should be off, Hitsugaya-Taichou." He grunted and made a low sound, only she would hear, "I make the calls." Momo felt her chest ache but she still nodded and blinked back another batch of hot tears stining her face, "Yes, Taichou." She figured he'd atleast be happy about that, but in truth, it hurt him deeper than when she had told him she hated him. They turned towards the portal after saying good bye to the other's and jumped through.

**((That's respectively long, right? Well I'ma leave off there, and sorry for them all being a little out of character, but it'll get better. please r&r, tell me if you want more!**

**songs listened to in the making**

**everything you want-Vertical Horizon**

**let me go-three doors down**

**I love the 90s/early 2000-02 soft rock!**

**hero/heroine-boys like girls**

**thunder- boys like girls**

**they're pretty good too **

**and the storm outside my window.))**


	2. Cause no one really saw her

"In time we hate that which we often fear

She never walked on water because no one really saw her

**((((((((((LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLALALALALALALA, CHAPTER NUMERO TWO-..OH! lalalala, anyways, I'll give you a list of music I listened to for this one at the bottom aswell this time. Anyways, I don't own Bleach, though I still want to buy Hinamori and Hitsu!))))))))))**

When they made it to the other side, they found the house they'd be staying in and settled in. Toushirou in the back room, Hinamori in the room on the opposite side of the house. She wondered through the house and into the kitchen, she pulled up a chair up to the table in time to hear someone clear their throat behind her. She jumped up, the chair toppling over, and twisted, falling forward. She closed her eyes and prepared for the impact but instead felt something hard but soft, and very cold beneath her. Momo's eyes opened to find an icy glare pinned on her, she immediately jumped up, and set up the chair, stuttering a slow, "I-I'm sorry. I didn't.. are you... " she paused, her babbling slowing as she looked down at her feet, "Okay?" She gained a grunt as a reply before hearing a low, cold, "sit down." She returned to her seat as he took the one across from her. The uncomfortably small table had their legs brushing constantly as Hitsugaya tried to explain what was going on. Momo listened and pulled her legs back so he wouldn't get annoyed with her. He pulled out a packet of papers and handed them to her, "this is our mission. review it and start living it." He stood quickly when their legs brushed once more and left. It was depressing.

Momo retired to her room and didn't leave till the next morning after she heard him leave. She had cried herself to sleep the night before after writing in her aqua journal, it was the same color as his eyes. She dressed in more modern clothing, jeans and a tight tank-top in a lime-green color. The mission was something of a nightmare, reading it.

(A/N:I'll tell you the mission now, don't worry)

_Mission--_

_Hinamori-fukutaichou and Hitsugaya-Taichou have been sent to the other side to monitor the activity of the hollows since it seems there has been a climb in the rate of hollows producing. They are to act as human's during the day. Acting as a newlywed couple, Hitsugaya taichou will have a job, and Hinamori-fukutaichou will as well. We expect reports in bi-annually in human-side time. We've secured all preperations, and expect this to be sucessful in helping get rid of the climbing number of hollows. We also have high hopes this mission will be fine and their cover shall be fine._

Momo sighed, well that was the gist of it anyways. She walked out a found a note scrawled quickly without care and not signed, _'your job is at the flower shop down the road. don't be late.' _She crumpled it up and threw it away before grabbing a light jacket (spring) and following the road til she came to a flower shop titled -"Aijou Flower Shop". She sighed at the name meaning sadness. Was the world really that cruel. She walked in and was met by a tall man, probably no older than her, who crudely through an apron at her. She held it a moment and stared at him, he then barked, "Your Hitsugaya, correct?! put on the apron and help!" She blanked for a moment and almost corrected him but stopped herself_, that's right, in this realm-we're married,_ and said, "sorry, I didn't know I was in the right place, I wanted to make sure!" She strapped on the apron and grabbed a card board box, helping the man unload the flowers. He was wearing gloves, she wasn't. They were nearly done, chatting when they passed each other on the trips when Hitsugaya came strolling down the road, a button up white shirt with a black jacket slung over his shoulder and a pair of jeans, the top few buttons of his shirt undone. In his other hand he held two boxes, bentos.

For some reason he couldn't put his finger on, her laughing and talking with her co-worker pissed him off. She felt coldness creeping up her spine as she grabbed another cardboard crate of flowers. His gave her a quick once over, the only thing that slightly annoyed him was the strip of flesh that showed over her jeans as her tank-top rode up over her hips. Momo spun, the box still in her dirty hands and saw him. He thought he imagined it, but for a moment he could've sworn her face lit up a little. Maybe it was just too much hope. She smiled, he rolled his eyes knowing it was her playing along, and said, "Hello Hitsu-Toushriou!" It felt strange to be calling him that again but it was for the sake of it all. The other man came wondering out and looked at Momo with a slight glint in his eye, as he took another crate he looked down at that smooth skin his entire way past. Momo felt the air growing very cold as she mumbled a low, "let me put this away and I'll be right with you.." She walked into the back and put the crate down and came out with a wipe, trying to clean the mud of her hands, but not using gloves, she'd cut up her hands and it stung. She was standing close to Toushirou when her co-worker came out and once again eyed her.

Not even wanting to know what he did it, he pulled her foreword and kissed her cheek lightly. Even though She knew it was for their act, she still turned a light shade of pink. Her blush darkened when his hand traveled down, but she felt him pull her shirt down and take his hand back. He didn't like the way that guy leered at Momo. His mind sputtered quickly, _'why do I care…'_

They ate on the bench outside of the flower shop in silence, anyone that walked by would have thought that Toushirou was possessed by something. There seemed to be anger radiating off him in waves, and Momo assumed it was her fault though she was wishing it wasn't. While technically she was right, it was really her co-worker who kept giving her a lascivious look. He was so close to freezing the guy, but still couldn't comprehend why, there was no point. He didn't like her like that, he just didn't want anyone else looking at _his wife_ that way. They were suppose to be newly weds, and he was certainly feeling like a newly wed jealous husband. _'wait, jealous?! I'm not jealous, especially over hinamori.' _Oh but he was, he was just not going to admit it.

While Toushirou argued with himself, and at that point, was winning, Momo sat next to him feeling more and more nauseas. Actually it was more, she felt her throat start to burn as her her nose burned and her stomach hurt. The girls that walked by eyed him with lust and raked her with a disgusted 'he-could-do-better-like-say-ME!' look. She was starting to feel worse and worse about the situation. He still hated her, she looked like a boy with long hair, knowing she had no figure and he was probably secretly stealing glances at those girls that walked by, giggling waggling their hips and tossing their hair. She stole a glance at him, he seemed to be staring off to her side, past her, probably watching those girls leave. She wanted him to leave soon, he was only there for their 'mission', and now she was feeling worse about herself, as if he hated her more. The only thing she wasn't thinking about?

When she told him she hated him… _He. Never. Said. It. Back._

**(((GRRRRRRRRRR THAT WAS FUCKING GGGAAAY –no offense to homosexual people- URRRRGGHHHH II NEED TO GO WATCH HITSUHINA VIDEOS FOR MORAL SUPPORT**

**okay, list of my lovley gay muse-music**

**SOUNDTRACK--**

**o1. collide-howie day**

**o2. next contestant-nickelback**

**o3.nothing good about goodbye-hinder**

**o4. homecoming queen-hinder**

**o5. speechless-veronicas**

**&**

**o6. who i am hates who i've been-relient k**

**NEXT TIME, AGENT ORANGE!)))**


	3. In a He said, she said Fight

"In time we hate that which we often fear

Toushirou took the half-eaten bento away from Momo as she pushed it to the side. She officially felt like crap. He got up and threw both of the disposable boxes away. He could tell something was wrong, but brushed it off, it wasn't his job to be her babysitter. He leaned over to her and said, "I have to get back to work…" He stood straight and she gave a curt nod, standing as well. She blushed at the closeness but it quickly faded when he stepped away. She started back to the truck, but was pulled to a stop by the cooling air. _Is this his way of training me, or something?_She turned her head to see him, he stood a little ways back seeming very aggravated but she couldn't understand why. Her co-worker's eyes didn't even see Toushirou's very annoyed state, they were too busy glued to the girl standing about half way between them. Toushirou only saw this from the corner of his eye, but it still annoyed him. He wondered over to her casually and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek to which she once again blushed, but it faded the moment she remembered, this was all just an act. Where he'd made contact with her was like ice on her flesh for the rest of the day.

Toushirou had gone in for more of an 'interview' that morning so he had to go home and change. _Construction? What kind of crappy job was that?!_ He threw on jeans and a plain white tee shirt, before heading back off to work. He knew he'd be working late and decided to leave a note because, while they still weren't getting along let alone talking, he should be civil. He didn't sign the note though. He'd been working for a little while along side the other men who would hoot and holler cat-calls at women as the walked past. When he didn't join in, they tortured him about it, more if a friendly way, but still made fun of him. They asked stupid things like if he was gay or if he was a 'chocolate pirate', which essentially were the same thing, but they didn't seem to know, and he wasn't going top contribute, even to correct them. They still kept it up, til the later hours.

Momo returned home to find an unsigned, carelessly scribbled note. She took a quick shower and pulled on clean clothes, a pair of shorts because the afternoon was a bit warmer and a short sleeved shirt. She searched through their mission forms til she found Toushirou's work-place and made two bento. I'm only repaying him for earlier. Was what she kept telling herself, but she couldn't help but put extra care into these. They would have to go grocery shopping for real food, other than the little stuff that had already been there. She wrapped them up, threw on a light jacket, and headed out.

Toushirou rolled his eyes at their hollering till one of them came over and started hassling him again. They were making comments about some weird woman when the only one Toushirou could actually stand, Shisuke, wondered over and threw his arm over him. He gave a friendly laugh and said, "come on, Hitsugaya, join in once.. look at this one, she's a real beauty…" He spun Toushirou around and laughed loudly as he saw. Toushirou's jaw dropped at who was standing at the gate, the other's laughed at him and said stupid things like, "damn boy, never seen a girl before?" Toushirou growled, "shut up" Shisuke gave another laugh and said, "chill, their just kidding.." He turned to all of them and said, "Your 'joking' about _my_wife." One of them gave a chuckle and said, "well now we know why he didn't join in, with somethin' like that waitin' at home, who would bother with anyone else?" Toushirou stuck an arm up an watched her face glow at him, they were all staring. He hopped down from the beam he was on and wondered over to her, planting a soft kiss on her cheek, he whispered, "Hinamo.. mo what are you doing here?"

Momo gave a soft blush and lifted the bag she was carrying, "r-returning the favor.." She mentally cursed because she stuttered but she had to admit, he was sweaty, an inch away from her, and** very**hot. She turned her head away as they walked to a beam that was laying on the ground a ways away. He carried the bag for her and took things out neatly, though a bit shakily. They ate for a while til their silence was disrupted by more hollars and cat-calls. Momo gave a horrified look and stood sharply, "is this what you do all day?" Which came out as more of a shriekish noise but he understood it. He set the box aside and tried to catch up with her, "Momo, I didn't. I swear." They were acting, at least that's what they were thinking about each other. She kept walking.

Toushirou ran up and caught her arm, lightly but still pointedly and was immediately aware of exactly how much weight she'd lost while in the hospital. He stared at her at a loss for words, to which Shisuke saw the trouble he was in. Jumping down he wondered over to the two and through an arm over Toushirou, who dropped Momo's arm. He looked to Momo and said, "Hello Mrs. Hitsugaya! I'm Shisuke, I work with your idiotic husband…" He extended a hand to which Momo took with a look to Toushirou and said, "I'm Momo." Shisuke bowed his head slightly and said, "Well, mrs. I wanted to save my bud to trouble of going home to a pissed off wife, so I'd just like to say, Hitsugaya never did get involved, I mean, we all thought he was gay for a while, but.. I mean, lookin' at you, we can see why…" Momo turned a light shade of pink before bowing her head, embarrassed. She nodded to him, chocolate brown eyes looking over to Toushirou as she mumbked, "o-oh…" Her voice left her with Shisuke as he nodded and walked away. She turned away from Toushirou and said, "Sorry…" He gave a short grunt, as usual and said, "You were just trying to play your part."

Momo turned quickly and started to say that she wasn't, but just ended up stuttering to a stop, her face dark red. He was turning away as he shed his shirt. It was rather warm for spring, so she brought everything together and headed back, with yet another peck to the cheek. Her trip home was a pretty plain one, not many people were out because it was starting to get dark. She walked into the empty house and threw away the bento. Changing into her pajamas, which were a silky aqua-teal color. **((no she didn't get them because of Toushirou, PERVES! Lmao, I'm writing it, I must be the perv… how sad.))** Slipping onto her chair, at the desk, she was writing about her day in her journal when she heard the door open and close. Hearing the dead bolt slide into place, she sighed, listening to him trudge along the floor to his room.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-That night and the Next Day –x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

His door opened and closed with a slam as he got ready for bed. He dropped his shirt and such on the floor, praying for rain the next day, and that no hollows attacked during the night. Momo fell asleep not to long afterwards, not hearing anything. The next morning she woke up early to hear rain pouring against the window. She lie still for a while, waiting, but didn't hear Toushirou, she assumed he'd gone to work, not knowing that he didn't have to work on days that rained. She stood and walked around for a little bit to get better situated and wake up her body. She took her dirty clothes and put them in a bag before wondering over to Toushirou's room. She opened the door and started to pick his clothing off of the floor. Putting them in the laundry bag she turned to leave, pulling the door behind her, only to find him standing outside, donning nothing but a towel that was too short for either of their goods. He stared at her for a moment, eyes giving her a quick once over he harshly said, "What were you doing?" Momo blushed and turned to the side, trying to hide it, "I.. I was g-getting laundry.." _Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. No more stuttering._He gave a little, 'hn' before walking closer, to which she back-pedaled into the door. He looked at her closely, as though examining her, then said, "Stop blushing, nobodies here. You don't have to keep up the act at home." Once again, she had to bite her lip to keep from telling him, she wasn't acting. She mumbled, "oh. Eh, uhm it was… because of your… state of undress…"

To which Toushirou couldn't have had a worse answer, "Oh really? You know, generally people blush seeing the body of people they care about, shouldn't you save that little pink blush for Aizen?"

Momo's eyes turned to him, instead of looking hurt, her eyes turned cold. She started to lift her hand to slap him, but he caught her small wrist, feeling her bones. She turned away and struggled to which he let her go and she brushed passed him, heading for the laundry room. _He was an idiot._


	4. Lost without a trace

"In time we hate that which we often fear

ROAR!

Haha, well welcome back people, sorry for waiting for so long, it's just, this summer was really bad and I've been trying to catch up on school work I missed and a bunch of other ridiculous crap.

Anyways, for those of you that don't know, I'm moving to Yokosuka, so at the end of October I prolly won't write much. And the reason why the summer I quit writing was because my sister lost her baby and we were all trying to pick up the pieces of everything. But, you'll all be happy to know, that in my several month long abscense, she has gotten better and they are pregnant again (only like a month along though, so we are all on edge til ATLEAST her second tri-mester..)

Oh and I'm altering my writing a little so It may seem a little longer, but it's really just the same!

Anyways, I don't own bleach and here we go! Oh and by the way, momo's co-worker has a name now! (you can now dance to celebrate –sits back to watch them dance- YAY! ) I wanted to name him "slagothor" but my brother called me an idiot and told me not to name it after our pet crab, so…. He's just Kunia €roar, girl name!€

Momo brushed past him as she readied for work. The night before there had been no hollow sightings, but it had only been two nights. She didn't speak to him, didn't even give him one glance until it was right before she had to leave. Since they had just arrived and had done little for home-extras there was no umbrella, but she didn't mind.

She turned, he was sitting in the common room, reading. Standing in the doorway she murmured a low, "I'm off. Work." Without waiting on a reply, she was gone.

She hurried down the road, a confusing feeling through out her body. Hinamori rubbed her hand absently around her throat. It felt as though someone scalded her throat them scraped it with a dull tool to make it rough. There was a slight stinging to it, and she felt a kind of iron-ish taste, almost like blood, but it hurt so bad to swallow or breath. Her eyes started to sting and her cheeks were hot, though she still didn't understand. That was until two tears trailed down her cheek. She tried to quit crying by the time she made it to work, but there was not much avail there.

As she stepped through the door, brushing stray rain drops off her hoodie and jeans, her co-worker looked up.

Kunai saw her face and put the crate down, rushing over, "Hinamori-kun, what's wrong?"

When momo didn't answer he started questioning her about her home, all the typical questions, but one made her angry. "Is your husband hurting you?" Kunai asked, trying to grasp for some way to comfort her without making things worse.

Hinamori sniffled slightly and tried not to lash out at Kunai, instead she numbly said, "No. it's okay. Rain just makes me sad." Her smile was distant, dazed as internally, she was thinking, 'what a lie.. I love the rain..'

Kunai took her to the back and helped her put her stuff away, while she calmed herself.

He handed her an apron when she assured him she was fine and said, "I'll let you work the register. Gramps was going out today, so we need a counter girl." Still, in an attempt to cheer her up he added a cheerful (though slightly flirtatious), "And having such a cute girl will probably help with customers!"

Momo giggled to herself as she went to the front, leaving him to his crate stacking. The soil in the crates smelled rather gross anyways. She was sitting on the bar stool with some strange magazine open when she started to zone out. His words were ringing in her head.

She was finally snapped out of it when she heard a little voice say, "Uhmm.. hi!" Momo leaned over the counter to see the child and smiled.

The little boy gave a bashful smile before saying, "I'm wooking fow some pwetty fowers.."

Momo smiled and walked around the counter, offering her hand and said cheerfully, " Here, I'll help you." The little boy took her hand and walked with her.

Every flower Momo chose, the little boy said 'nope' to or shook his head. She picked him up and set him on the counter, gasping as a good idea came into her head.

She put one finger up and said, "Hold on, one moment!"

She left the little boy there as he nodded and played with a pen. Walking into the back, she saw the new stock of red carnations that they had just gotten in that morning and picked one up.

She cut the end at an angle and wrapped it in a light turquoise tissue paper before taking it to the little boy, "How about this one?"

The boy twisted to see her on the counter and wiggled happily, nodding. Momo walked around and helped him off the counter while leaning down to hand the flower to him.

She gave a sugary sweet smile and said, " Who is this pretty flower for anyways?" The little boy gave a shy grin and said, "Tey'r fuww my gamma."

The boy bowed slightly and said thanks before turning and running out of the door. He stopped under the awning and looked around, he put his index finger in his mouth, obviously confused so Momo decided to help him.

She walked to the back and said, "I'm going to help someone real quick, I'll be right back."

Kunai looked over his shoulder at her and gave a smile and a nod. Momo turned and walked to the door, offering her hand, "I'll help you find your Grandma!"

After walking around for some time with the boy, they found his grandmother, she had been looking for him too. Momo smiled at the two and parted, heading back to the shop. It wasn't a very long walk back, but not many people were out, so she was kind of worried.

Picking up the pace, she heard her feet tapping as they touched the ground; and at the same time, thought she'd heard another set of feet. When she turned around, though, no one was there. Again, she felt as though she was just being paranoid and started walking quicker.

She was about to turn on to a different street when a pair of arms grabbed her. She only got out a small shriek before a gloved black hand was clamped over her mouth. It smelled like dirt and felt as if there was sand being rubbed on her face, or she had a bad case of afternoon stubble. The place she was pulled back into was darker because of the storm clouds, but still in the darkness; the glove seemed very familiar.

Momo grunted and made a much of a struggle and noise as she could as the person tried to pull her back. Finally she ended up hitting a window with her flailing feet as her captor kept dragging her back.

When he assumed he was far enough back, his hands started roaming, still holding her back. It made her feel wrong, and even though she'd promised to protect human's not hurt them, she couldn't help using a bit of her power to get the creatin's hands off of her.

As soon as he had let go, she bolted for the mouth of the alley and kept running. It wasn't until she made it to the door of the flower shop did she realize that she was sobbing, her vision was blurry and her clothes were smeared with dirt. She walked in and grabbed her jacket, not bothering to pull her hair out of it, she walked towards the back, hearing Kunai there.

Sniffling, Momo cleared her throat and said, "I.. I think.. I need to go home…" Kunai turned around and his eye's widened.

"Hina..mori-kun.. are you alright? What happened?" He asked, setting his things down and pulling the gloves off, rushing over to her.

Momo shook her head, her arm's wrapped around herself before she broke down with a coughish-sob. Kunai pulled her close, and looked at his watch over her back. He mumbled something before putting her at arm's length, rubbing her arms, and saying, "I can't walk you home ,if you want to go."

Momo nodded and said, "I don't want to cause you trouble.."

Kunai smiled at her and said, "it's okay, it's nothing, come on.." On their way out, Kunai closed and locked the shop, grabbing his coat as well.

He walked beside her, trying to figure out what was wrong and cheer her up at the same time. While Momo just wanted to get home.

The walk wasn't very long, she was soaked as she walked to the door and turned, her face still had smears of mudd, and she was shivering. "Thank you.. for walking me back.. I'll be in tomorrow.. I'm sorry.." Momo said, her head down.

Kunai shook his head and said, "That's alright Hinamori-kun, tomorrow is Sunday, the shop is closed. So I shall see you Tuesday. I hope whatever is bothering you get's better…" His eyes flickered to her house momentarily before back to her as he said, "listen, if there is something you need to tell someone, you can tell me…"

Momo saw his gave, but she shook her head, "Nothing of the sort… But.. I'll see you then.." She turned and opened the door, closing it behind her, she set her back against it.

She heard a slight noise from the living room and walked ahead, a depressed look on her face. Her eyes were starting to puff up with their redness along with her nose turning red and the streaks where her tears were on her cheeks.

Hinamori walked in to find Toushirou sleeping on the couch. There was a piece of paper under his hand, but she figured it was none of her business. She started to sneak through the living room as the lights went out and she tripped over the leg of the coffee table.

She hit the ground with a bang and Toushirou sat up, seeing her and said, "You aren't the most graceful person in the world, are you?" Momo crawled up and started towards her room shakily. She couldn't help a sniffle, and heard him groan slightly, "You aren't going to cry are you?"

Momo shook her head quickly, causing herself to get dizzy, so she stumbled.

She grabbed clothing to change into and headed for the bathroom, only to come into contact with his chest. He put his hand under her chin and tilted her head up, getting a look at her, he knew something had happened. He didn't entirely understand this new feeling but it was like he's swallowed something that was literally on fire, it hurt. She turned her head slightly and closed her eyes, swallowing another sob.

He let go and almost growled, "What happened."

Momo, not wanting to talk about it – especially to him; manage to squeak out, "I don't want to talk."

His voice gave it all away in what he said next, "That wasn't a question. Tell me now."

So let's be honest, when it comes to women, Toushirou, isn't too savvy.—when it comes to CRYING women, he's just an guy.

**I know, it isn't very long, but sorry. I'm doing more than one chapter because I made everyone wait so long. T.T… Okay, so sorry people, but the rapeist.. ir attempted rapeist is not kunai.. sorry. . But he get's his own later on. **

**OKAY, NOW TO MAKE THIS CLEAR, I DO NOT SUPPORT CANON+OC COUPLES. I JUST NEEDED AN EXTRA CHARACTER, AND THEY DON'T END UP TOGETHER ANYWAYS!**

Psycho: and it's like.. o my god, raep rite?!

Cutie: I no rite?

Psycho: exactly..

Cutie& psycho: dinner is never lonely for a schizophrenic.


	5. I would be a better man

MMHMM, I OWN YOU ||.pweeeaaassse???.||! not bleach though.. dammitall. (alright, well its Christmas here in Yokosuka and I'm planning on trying to finish this chapter and possibly the next, before my battery runs out because I don't want to go down stairs to get the charger. I haven't been on writers block, my lifes just been overly dramatic with the move and everything. =[.. anyways, I AM BACK! The next FEW chapters may be short, but I'll start updating quicker.

OH AND FOREWARD- I OFTEN GET UNOHANA AND NANOA CONFUSED, SO FORGIVE ME, BUT WITH THE SITUATION, YOU'LL GET WHO I'M TRYING TO SAY.

ONTO THE STORY!

In the soul society-

Rangiku caught site of Renji walking beside Nanoa. He'd hurt his arm a while back, so she caught up with them to ask how he was. When he saw her he grinned in that cocky- 'me-man, you-busty lady' way he usually did. She smiled and inquired about his arm. He grabbed his arm and held it up, 'Good as new, thanks to miss Nanoa, here!' She smiled and said hello to Nanoa politely, as the trio walked toward Nanoa's office. They didn't realize that a boy with black hair and porcelain skin had been watching them, closely.

EARTHSIDE.

"Hinamori, just tell me!" Toushirou looked down at her. Momo shook slightly as his voice echoed in their cold, barren house. She hugged herself and turned her face away, to the side. He grabbed her cheeks, though not roughly, and turned her again to look at him. Momo shook and felt her knees going out, as she started to crumple down, he went with her.

He caught her fairly easily and lifted her the little ways onto the couch. Crouching in front of her, he bobbed his head down to look at her, "Hinamori, please?" It was the kindest thing he could muster up, trying not to simply hold her down like they used to and force it out of her. She sniffed and coughed before saying, "I was just… helping the little boy find his… grandmother…"

Toushirou stared at her for a moment before blurting out, "oi! If you want kids, wait until you're married."

There was a short silence before momo flushed with anger. She jumped up and said, "First of all, I am married, albeit against my will, but I am. And I wouldn't want kids with YOU anyways! They'd probably end up just as self-centered and egotistical as you. Half to keep up your sarcastic, tough guy image, so that after this mission is all over, you won't have any ties to me. Kid?! HA! That would tie me to someone that doesn't even seen to care I was nearly raped-" She stopped, choking. She looked at him, his eyes were covered with white spikes falling over his eyes. She abruptly turned and headed for the bathroom. He started to reach for her, but she kept walking.

As he heard the bathroom door slam and the water turn on, he sat back on his heels, his shoulders slumped. That single word was still echoing in his head. Rape…

He sat on the couch with his head in his hands, listening to the thunder, his thoughts were bouncing around in his head like live electric wires. The lightening stroke right outside as the shower turned off. He heard her rustling around.

His head was still in his hands as she walked toward her room. He stood right as the lights went out. She froze, trying to adjust as he maneuvered around the coffee table.

She felt a pair of warm, strong arms wrap around her, one around her shoulders, the other, her waist. She struggle for a moment, frightened before he said, "I'm.., sorry… Momo…"

He knew it was probably not very appropriate to be blushing at this point, but he still was for some reason. Pulling away quickly, he turned to leave the room as the lights flickered back on. They seemed to have almost opportune timing. Momo turned slowly only to see a glimpse of his back before he went to his room.

SORRY SORRY SORRY. THIS SHOULD TIE YOU OVER TILL TOMORROW. =[ WILL UPDATE A LONGER, BETTER CHAPTER TOMORROW. AND JUST BECAUSE OF WHAT HE DID, DON'T THINK THIS IS ANYWHERE CLOSE TO BEING OVER. =D ANYWAYS, SORRY. AND SEE YOU TOMORROW.

ooohh ps- incase you haven't noticed, the chapter titles are all lyrics to songs. the first 4 were 'HOMECOMING QUEEN BY HINDER' AND THIS ONE IS 'IF I WERE A BOY- BEYONCE' it thought it fit.


	6. Its not a scene

MERRY FUCKING, CHRISTMAS! BE HAPPY I MADE THIS ONE A LITTLE BIT LONGER FOR YOU. **I HAVEN'T HAD MUCH TIME FOR YOU, MY LOVELIES, AND I SINCERELY APOLOGIZE, BUT IT IS BECAUSE OF MY OWN ACTUAL BOOK SERIES.**

Anyways, I don't own bleach and lets quickly move on to the story..

Though I should warn you, this is bad, because of course, I have some SERIOUS WRITERS BLOCK NOW.

Hinamori settled into her bed almost zombie like as she simply sat there. She started to think about the many things that had happened. From one thing to another it went before she started to lie down. Right as she started to dose off, there was a shrill beeping that echoed throughout the house. As she jumped up she grabbed her phone, three hollows had popped up near the park down the road.

She pulled from her body and exited the house to find Hitsugaya already on the roof. He glanced at her but quickly looked away, his face feeling really hot. She looked over to him as well, but instead of looking away, she held a confused gaze on him. As he flipped open his phone and started toward the hollows, she followed as well.

Momo focused more on where her feet were going instead of him after that. As he hit the ground, she did as well, though not quite as graceful and her sandals slid on the gravel. He sighed and drew Hyourinmaru. Momo pulled out Toubumei as well, getting into position.

They both launched into a fight with the hollows. It was a quick fight, over in moments as the hollows burst into small, raining black pieces that slowly disappeared. Momo landed on her toes, more gracefully this time as she huffed. She was most definitely out of shape after laying in a bed for several months. She looked over to Toushirou and said "Well, erhm, we should get back…"

Toushirou nodded and started towards the house, without a word and without looking at her. She sighed quietly once more before started after him. As they made it into the house he went straight to his room, not sparing her another glance. Not because he was angry at her or anything, but more because he knew that if he looked at her, he would turn red.

As he stepped back into his body, which was sitting with its back against the wall, he remained there for a few moment, "why am I acting like some little school girl?! I'm a soul reaper, a captain for that matter!" He growled and stood. He walked to his bed and just dropped over it forward, asleep before he even hit the pillow. Slowly he crawled up onto his bed, while still being asleep.

*Toushirous dreaming.*

He felt as though he was dropping, but couldn't wake up. His back hit something hard and as his eyes opened he realized he was lying on the wood in his office in the Soul Society. He stood and adjusted himself back into his own body, it was almost like an out of body experience as he looked up and saw Momo's mouth moving. She smiled at him and ran forward, her hands slapping down on his desk and making his papers go flying. He felt a vein pulsing as a head ache came and he shouted at her, "Hinamori!" She smiled, her hair was falling everywhere, not up in her usual bun. She was in a tank top and jeans, trying to get him to go to a festival of some sort. He simply rolled his eyes and said that he had too much work to do.

She poked him and said, "You work all the time, come on Shirou-chan!" He stood and said, "Fine, only for a minute."

As she led him to the festival, he noticed that all the trees were covered in paper flowers, which he only thought, 'that must have taken forever.' It seemed to be such a short time as they walked around the festival together, as the sun went down. Momo drug him to the bank of the river where hundreds of beautiful glowing flowers floated down the river and fireworks went off.

They sat under one of the trees and as a child crashed into it a paper flower seemed to float onto his lap. He picked it up, and turned to her, putting it behind her ear. He wasn't even controlling his own body at this point. He stared at her and as they started to lean closer together, he woke.

*end of dream*

Toushirou woke to a loud curse. Not so much a curse as "holy bah friggin cheese on-" She stopped as though she thought she were actually cursing. Stumbling out of his room, he saw her working at the stove. She had a piece of paper towel wrapped around her finger, but the aroma filling the house was mouth watering. His stomach rumbled soundly as she turned with the skillet in hand. He seemed to look away and rub a hand on his stomach quickly.

Momo grabbed two plates and set them on opposite sides of the table. She glanced up at him for a mere moment, and said, "Uhhh, do you want something to drink?" He looked at her and said, "Why are you up? Its kind of early, you should be asleep." He was tempted to add 'not that I care' to cover, but he realized that that would have seemed even more suspicious. Hinamori sighed and said, "Uh, I just didn't go back to sleep. Coffee?"

He nodded before snapping his gaze up to her, this time he took note of the dark circles and the way her hands shook, "Why didn't you go to sleep?" it sounded harsher than he meant, but she tried to ignore his tone.

She answered, "I just couldn't get to sleep.."

There was nothing he could do other than accept that as an answer and sit down. He took some of the eggs from the pan and a pan cake that was on a plate.

Momo got up and got water and returned to the table. She dished up before her gaze flickered to him several times as she inquired, "do you work today?"

He thought for a moment and took a deep breath. Swallowing, he answered, "Yes. But I hear that this project will be over soon. Don't know where I'll be after that."

She nodded and said, "Oh, okay."

Trying to stay off any subjects that could bring trouble and make at least *civil* conversation, he said, "What are you doing today?"

Momo finished her bite and said, "Well, I was planning on grocery shopping for a few things and probably just, staying around the house."

Toushirou looked up and said, "Well, do you need any money or anything?"

She shook her head and said, "No, I seem to have enough."

It was barely considered talk for newly weds, they sounded like they'd been married for fifty years and had grown to begrudgingly only 'accept' each other.

As toushirou stood, he took his plate and set it in the sink. He washed his plate and set it in the drain rack. Momo stood and said, "oh, I was going to-"

He cut her off and said, "That's… alright."

**(I'm sorry, I'm really tired tonight, I'll update again tomorrow.**


	7. What if I don't want to

First of all, thanks for the few that accepted the apology, second to honey: I am not going to privately respond because you don't deserve that as those reviews are very public and anyone who wants to can easily go read them, now, DID YOU EVEN READ THAT LETTER YOU ILLITERATE FUCK?! The entire thing was an apology and my stating why, not to mention saying that I'd update soon, and don't you ever call me selfish again. I just happen to have a fucking life. I really hope you were being sarcastic or something because otherwise you are really fucking stupid.

**-Sorry to everyone else for being angry right as I post another chapter-**

… **(ALMOST, not exactly. There's a nice dream though…) FANSERVICE CHAPTER! -Pity the small children that are traumatized by this-**

**I DO NOT OWN BLEACH. (If I did, there'd be some smex scenes and more couples. :/)**

Momo sat at the table as he turned towards her, "I'll be… going then."

It was true that his warning of his departure came as a pleasant shock to her, but it quickly turned to a short lived panic as she realized she wasn't entirely sure what to say in response. After a moment she realized that, instead of the old married couple, she was panicking much the same way a young bride would.

Realizing that the silence had gone on well enough she decided to simply respond with a, "okay, well, see you... later."

Momo watched him for any sign on anger at her response or her replying at all but what she saw flash across her face shocked her even more, _amusement._

She sat there as he put on his shoes and left. The door didn't slam; there was no painful silence when he left… nothing. But the serenity didn't last long; instead she hopped to her feet with a newfound ambition and set to washing the dishes as her first duty.

After she finished the dishes she dried off her hands softly, as they had started to shrivel and her hands were always more sensitive when they were like that.

She looked down at them and remembered when Toushirou and she used to go out into the garden and find the best watermelon. Toushirou would carry it back to the house, claiming that he was tougher than 'bed-wetter-Momo', then Momo would take a knife and cut it as all the juice would poor out her hands would get covered and by the time she was done slicing the large fruit, her hands would be prune-ish and shriveled.

Momo let a lonely sigh out as she headed in to the living room; she had little to do today other than go grocery shopping which would be a long boring process.

Walking through the room towards her own bed room she straightened the pillows on the couch ran a hand along the table to dust it off and set the books in a neat-er pile.

She grabbed a pair of jean shorts and an orange fitted-tee shirt and headed towards the bathroom. She'd opted for not showering before Toushirou awoke that morning because she had not wanted to wake him, but it seemed that her cooking and slipped up vocal volume managed to wake him instead.

As she walked down the hall and into the bathroom, she noted that he had set his basket of clothes outside his door so she wouldn't have to go into his room again when she did them.

It had been a few days before that they had gotten into it over her going into his room once to get his dirty clothes; she assumed it was a kind gesture. Or he just didn't want her to go into his room, which made her partially curious, but siding with her better judgment, Momo did not go into his room.

Her shower was short as she was planning on washing the bleach-able clothes today and did not want to use all the hot water. Venturing back to her own room she gathered all the white dirty clothes that she had less-than-thoughtfully strewn across her floor and other areas in her room. As she headed to the back laundry-room she leaned down and grabbed the grimy white shirts he wore for work and threw several of them in with the rest.

When she was finished with all the straightening up she could think of she grabbed her purse, slipped on a pair of light sandals, grabbed a light jacket, just in case, and she was out the door.

As they hadn't been there for very long and the community they lived in was small, she could just walk to the grocery/drug store. She hadn't made much of a list that morning but she had all day until he came home so she could easily just wander around and pick up whatever would be useful in cooking and around the house.

When she made it to the store, she was starting to get warm despite the cooling breeze. The air felt strange as there was a nice light breeze, but it still had a thick under-lying humid feel as though there was another storm coming. She sincerely hoped not, but her hoping wasn't exactly going to keep it from happening.

Momo opened the door to the small store and entered, happy to find it was air-conditioned and not-very crowded. She walked around the store for what seemed to be hours, though she knew it to be shorter than that and headed home with the weighted bags on her arms.

As the sun hit her and made the bags feel even heavier while she was getting more tired, she made a mental note: 'bikes-baskets. They are useful.'

---

Toushirou wiped sweat off his fore-head and stood up straight trying to stretch out his back. He'd been bent over the same steel beam for a good portion of the day, welding the brackets together. It wasn't just that the day was hot but it was that the welder was shooting off hot blue and orange sparks that hit his arms, shoulders and legs.

He closed his eyes tightly in a minute pain as he bowed his back, without realizing that he was panting. Shisuke wandered over and elbowed him in the ribs, grinning. Toushirou stood straight in annoyance and said, "What can you possibly be grinning about? It's miserable out here."

Shisuke laughed and said, "So why's your back so out of shape Hitsugaya? Been a little… Busy?"

The perverse joke raised a laugh out of the rest of the guys, as Toushirou turned almost confused. Sure the rest of the guys in seiretei had made sex-jokes but none really left so much to the imagination as that one.

He rolled his eyes, about to go back to work when another voice thought it was good to pop in, "Oh yea, that pretty little thang, it's always the innocent lookin ones that are into all that wild shit…"

Toushirou swiveled on his heel and looked at the man who'd spoken. He was a scrawny looking man, possibly five years older than Toushirou 20 years, and has the image of a man who lost his wits. At least Toushirou was really hoping he'd lost his wits to make a comment like that.

Stalking towards the older man Toushirou managed to growl through his tightly gritted teeth, "What did you say?"

The man seemed to realize that he had gone too far, but it was a little too late. Shisuke started after the pissed over younger man, but didn't make it in time to stop him. Toushirou was on him before the man could get out 'I'm-'

He didn't quite understand it, but it was just a blind rage that was making him slam his fist into the older man's face. All he could seem to think of was the days back in the soul society when Momo would cry to him because someone had made some comment to her.

He didn't remember much of what he'd done as his entire mind was in a memory flash.

_Momo had knocked lightly on the door to his office, though he heard her sniffling before she did so. He was up in a flash but decided against it and leaned his back on his desk, saying a low, "come in." _

_Before it was completely out, Momo was through the door, bawling into the front of his uniform. Through her sobbing words he heard that one of the other shinigami had made a lewd comment at her again. _

_He knew why, it was because as of late, Momo had been physically developing a little more. Sure she was still the little awkward girl who was kind of klutzy and tripped over her own uniform, feet or sword at some points, but she had become more womanly as well. Her personality hadn't really changed though; she was still a self-conscious little girl at heart._

His mind seemed to come back to him while Shisuke was pulling him off the bleeding man. Toushirou's fists were covered in blood from the man's nose and he looked down at his fists, then to the man's nose again, not entirely processing every thing.

It was a couple hours later when he was sitting in the police station that he realized that once more his temper had gotten him into trouble. He'd been thinking for quite some time though, and in his state, thinking was bad.

First, he worried whether Momo would be mad. Then he yelled at himself because of course, why did he care if she was mad at him? Then he went on to wondering if he was just stressed and that's what set him off, but then why was it that when they brought her up that he finally snapped?

Shisuke approached him in the waiting room and said, "oh geeze… Hitsugaya… they called your wife, and since your new around here, their treating it as a worker's scuffle and letting the boss handle it… Man… I'm sorry; I didn't realize he'd take it any farther. I figured… geeze man; your wife's going to kill you."

Toushirou looked up at him and sighed, "So is she just going to leave me here tonight?"

A voice from behind him said a really quiet, "God knows, I should."

Toushirou jumped up and turned to find Momo standing in the doorway. Her face was flushed from rushing and tears were gathered at the corners of her eyes. Her hair was a mess and her clothes were worse as she walked towards him.

Shisuke took it as his time to leave and nodded to Momo, "ma`am."

As he disappeared around the corner of the doorway Momo jumped towards Toushirou, and for a moment he was expecting a slap, instead she hugged him.

He went rigid in her arms, still angry at himself for getting so worked up about what was said about her. He finally managed to lowly say, "You can stop, no one's watching."

When she didn't immediately recoil, he put his hands on the upper halves are her arms and pulled her away, only to feel that she was shaking. They were silent for a couple, tense minutes before he broke, "Why are you acting so worked up? Its fine, everything's fine. I probably just lost my job. That's it, I can get another. Stop acting like you were so worried"

Momo glared up at him and through a choked voice she shrieked, "ACTING?!" As a couple of the people around them looked at her, she flushed a little deeper. Her voice quieted as she said, "Imagine getting a call saying that your significant other was at the police station, without getting any explanation on what he had done or what had been done to him!"

There were another couple silent moments as Toushirou studied her, for once, he wasn't entirely sure whether she was acting or not. It was strange, but somehow he believed she wasn't. Or he just _really_ wanted her not to be.

Putting that aside, either way, acting or not, an apology would make the most sense.

His voice was really low as he pulled her close again, "Fine, I'm sorry okay."

She sighed and pulled away, headed to the desk to see whether he was allowed to leave, she left with one last comment, "At home, you are going to tell me exactly what happened. And Why."

He knew he was in for it, as he couldn't think of any other reason to get into a physical fight with his co-worker that he could use instead of really telling her.

Momo stood at just about chest level with the high desk and said, "Hello? I was wondering when I can take my husband home."

The officer looked at her and said, "Husband? _How old are you_?!"

Momo sighed and said, "I'm Mrs. Hitsugaya, I am 19 years old."

The officer, visibly shocked, proceeded to say, "Well, we filed all the paper work and took your address down so you just need to sign him out and we'll send the rest of the papers to your home with the date and when you'll need to come back."

Momo froze as the pen was on the sign out sheet, "Date for what?"

The officer looked down at her and said, "Oh, the court date."

Momo closed her eyes and finished signing the sheet and turned, "thank you officer" was all she said before she walked to Toushirou and said, "Come on, we have quite the walk home."

There was a loud, masculine sigh behind her before she heard foot steps start.

It was dark when they got home and the air around them was still filled with a dark, tense silence. As Momo unlocked the door, Toushirou got the mail from the end of the walkway. It was pretty apparent that all they got was junk mail, though the occasional letter from Orihime popped up.

Momo walked in, remaining silent and turned on the lights in the entry way and took off her shoes, heading directly for the kitchen. Toushirou followed in suit and though he didn't go straight into the kitchen after her. They had allowed him to wash his hands at the station but he hadn't gotten a chance to clean up his shirt, so now that he was here, he decided to simply get a fresh one an put it on.

When he walked back out into the kitchen, he stood in the doorway for a few moments watching Momo rush around, almost as if she were trying to distract herself instead of focusing on everything else.

Momo turned when he shifted and made a noise, and saw him; her eyes were wide and unfocused. He watched her as she spun back around, looking through another cupboard. Pans banged together so loud that he barely heard her say, "Sit down."

The smells that filled the room almost immediately shocked him, there was coffee and she appeared to be making some form of stir fry, and the smell was thick already. He watched her intently and couldn't help his thoughts from wandering back to what had happened earlier that day. She was the woman that he had been defending in that fight. Now rushing around the room in frenzy was the silly, Momo that he had grown up with. The girl that worried too much, and occasionally was a little over-protective but in the end, he protected her more than she protected him.

Her voice was quiet and low as she said, "You better start explaining what happened."

Toushirou had still not come to a conclusion as to any other reason that he would have gotten into a fight, so he started a very, _very_ vague explanation, "Well, he said something that I found inappropriate and I got angry with it."

Momo spun quickly and said, " No! You never, EVER got angry enough to get into a fight with anyone! No matter what they said, it was never enough! Why now?! What could he have possibly said?!" By the end, she realized that she was shouting and she'd come closer to him.

She took a few steps backwards before spinning again, looking down at the stove.

Toushirou stared at her back for a couple moments, hunched over the table with his hands folded in front of his face, before he sighed, "Maybe you should just stop. I'll go to the court date and you can let it go."

She shook her head, chopping peppers and said, "No. You are going to tell me."

He looked at her, remaining silent and decided that hopefully if he stayed quiet long enough she would just let it go. It worked for a matter of fifteen minutes before she turned her head and looked at him through the corner of eyes and said, "I am waiting." Just the dark tone in her voice made him realize that not only was she not going to give up, but if he didn't tell her soon, he may have a bigger problem.

He sighed in defeat and in a low, almost whisper, he mumbled into his hands, "He said something about you."

Her brows knitted together and she said, "What?"

He looked up at her and only slightly louder, still with a low tone he said, "He said something about you…"

There was a tense silence. She finished cooking in silence and he realized that she had heard him the first time; she had to hear him say it again to make sure she had heard it.

As she started getting plates down, his thoughts were swarming around him, and suffocating him, _'What if she thought it was childish? What if the reason made her even angrier about his getting into a fight? _

_come closer to him. _

_e walked awawas shouting and she' with anyone! No matter what they said, it was never enough! Why no__ What if… What if she saw me differently? After all those times she told me about… those others saying things about her, I had never done anything to them other than a threat and I'd comfort her. What if…'_

He couldn't help it; everything was swarming around his mind. Momo set the plate down away from him then; she pushed it towards him, setting his utensils on the left side of his plate, remembering he was left handed.

Things seemed to slow down when he looked up to her face, and the fear and relief he saw there made him hate himself. He started to lean forward; she turned away as tears gathered in her eyes again. He caught her wrist, bringing a gasp from her throat as he pulled her back to face him. He stood in one swift motion, using his free hand to turn her head to look at him. Looking down at her, he was breathing roughly as he said, "… Why are you...? What's...?"

He couldn't form a complete thought, but she started struggling against him as she pulled at her wrist, her other hand wiping at the tears running down her face. Her voice was tight as she said, "Why? You… Even when all the others who said things to me, you never did this. Why now? What's changed? Before you…"

She stopped, he saw the complete confusion in her eyes and sighed, "You never saw what happened between the other Shinigami and me. Yes, I never physically harmed them, but I took care of it for you."

Momo was still making a sad attempt at struggling before she said, "But… You were so mad at me… When we got here… and you said… it was just an act… you could have just… laughed if off with them… What did he say? Why did it make you do that?!"

He froze and she looked up, tears still making puffy red tracks down her face, as the tip of her nose puffed up and she sniffled. She looked into his aquamarine eyes and realized that he had no idea.

He dropped his hands from her arm and chin and looked away before looking back at her, "Maybe… I just don't want to be mad anymore."

To him it felt as though something had been pulled off his chest, and as soon as the tension cleared, he'd be able to breathe much easier. He was lost off in his congratulatory ego-stroking as he'd finally admitted it, that he was ripped from his thoughts with a loud sob. Momo wrapped her arms around his stomach and buried her head in his chest.

He froze and stared down at her chocolate brown hair that had become a wind-blown, stress pulled mess and all he could think to do was rest his hand there. He wasn't entirely sure what to do, or for that matter, why she was crying, so he decided to himself, he'd just ask.

Though through all their quiet talking and admitting, he hadn't quite realized that his tone was still his usual masculine, rather patronizing tone as he blurted out, "Why are you crying?!"

Momo gasped into his chest and mumbled, "I… I…" and then there was more sobbing.

Toushirou sighed to himself and said, "Momo… I didn't mean it like that…"

She pinched his side causing him to yelp and jump, before she shouted at his chest, "You're... STUBBORN AND STUPID AND ARROGANT AND UNFORGIVING!"

He stared down at the young girl who had just yelled and insulted and… tickled him at the same time, and all he could think was 'hide and protect'. That's what he wanted to do, he wanted to hide her and protect her and see her every day and guarantee her that everything would always be okay. He berated himself and mentally noted, 'one thing at a time, one step at a time.'

Momo had finally started talking again as she mumbled, "I… I've been waiting… for so long… for you to forgive me… I wanted our friendship back. I wanted to be allowed…" He leaned down slightly, listening to her sobbing words and finally, since he couldn't understand her, he pulled her away a little, and said, "You wanted to be allowed to what?"

He noted that her face had turned red as she mumbled through wet, pouty lips, "… to be... allowed to... call you shirou-chan again…"

He stared at her. She shifted uncomfortably. He stared more, and then she looked up. He was staring, wide eyed and at her and she saw the corners of his lips twitch.

They stared at each other for a few silent moments before Toushirou finally lost it and broke into hysterical laughter. Momo started pouting as in between gasping breathes he said, "That's… it?"

Momo sniffled before she too joined him in laughter. There were a few moments where they would look at each other and laugh.

After they had caught their breathe Momo had gotten dinner all together and set everything up. Their dinner, for once, was in comfortable silence instead of awkward silence when they were trying not to look at each other.

Towards the end of the meal, Momo finally broke the silence, "Mou… Toushirou… You never told me what he said…"

He looked up at her and sighed, "It doesn't matter, just leave it alone."

She looked up at him from her near-empty plate and said, "Yes it does. I want to know. Please?" She made an attempt to pout childishly, but it turned more into an awkward puppy-eyes.

Toushirou sighed and said, "My back was hurting. Shisuke-san said something about you. Making a friendly joke and he took it too far. Just leave it."

Momo stood and set her plate in the sink before turning, her hands on her hips, "Come on, now I'm even more curious! Plleeaassee, Toushirou!"

He looked up at her and said, "He accused you of not being as innocent as you appear."

Momo looked taken-back at first before her face flushed and she stumbled to say something but came up short only to say a clear, "oh."

He looked down and shook his head, "I told you to leave it alone."

The conversation was left there and the rest of the night was spent, Momo said she would do the dishes and sent him off to change the laundry.

Toushirou assumed that he would do okay doing the laundry despite the fact that he had yet to try and do laundry in the human world. In the Soul Society he had always just hand washed his robes and hung them to dry.

As he was transferring the clothing, he dropped a few things and figured he'd pick them up after everything else. When he went back to pick them up, he was expecting them to be, well, more cloth than there was. He straightened them out and held them up, a little confused until he realized exactly what they were. 'Momo's…' was all that entered his thoughts before an image flashed and his face flushed.

He quickly tossed them into the dryer and slammed the door closed. He stood straight trying to push back the thoughts and started loading other, dark clothes into the washer. As he added the wash with how much the bottle said to put in, he dumped it and pushed all thoughts away.

As he headed back towards the living room, he tried to keep all evidence of the previous thoughts off his face but as soon as he saw her sitting on the couch, he felt heat rushing up her neck. She looked up at him and he said, "OH hey. Uhm, I'm going to… uhm, I'm going to bed."

She looked up at him and said, "Okay. Well.." There was an awkward silence before she added, "Uhm, good night."

He turned and threw a "g`night" over his shoulder as he 'scurried' off to bed.

Toushirou lay in bed for quite a while, listening to her, he assumed as soon as the house feel silent he'd be able to forget the images and her for a while but that proved to be false as the house fell into silence and he drifted off.

His dreams wouldn't let him forget though.

_They were together on the banks of the river that ran through the soul society, she was wearing a white dress, though it was slightly see through, and he knew what was under it. _

_Momo was lying on her back, pressed against Toushirou who lie on his side, running his fingers through her hair. Their bodies were tangling and untangling together, their lips met in gently, yet urgent brushes. _

_His hands were tugging lightly on her dress, slowly sliding it up her thighs and hips, his body leaning over her and his hands slipping over to her back as he pushed the dress up._

_His lips traced the every curve of her face, cheek bones, temples, and her neck, vibrating in low tones as he murmured, 'I love you.'_

He sat up and eyes shot open wide. He looked around and saw that small amounts of sunlight filtered through the gaps in the navy blue curtains. There was a sweet smell that filled the house and he immediately knew that she was up early again.

Though he hoped today wouldn't be nearly as long as the day before.

As he rolled out of bed and a thick, sweet syrupy smell filled his nose. Watermelon.

Today was already going better.

**Okay, so yes, I was a little off, I didn't update the day after, but just a mere day later. And yes, sorry. And thank you guys for being so understanding. (-really surprised people didn't chew her out for this and accepted the apology-)**

**Anyways, I'm going to start on the other next chapter now, since I appear to be on a roll now, and I'm sorry that this chapter is kind of slow, yet it kind of fast forwarded their relationship, but I don't know… I just got an idea and ran with it since it was the only one and I was going to like, loose all ability to finish this story if I didn't.**

**By the way, this story:**

**My document right now (just this chapter) is 10 pages long, single spaced and the font is Tahoma size 10, so I am hoping this is longer than it really appears, I mean holy shit. All together this chapter took 4 hours to write and I was getting distracted by myspace(childish, I know, but I like keeping in touch with my friends and I don't wanna get a facebook so.), I was distracted by photobucket, and you know that really bad fanfic that everyone talks about 'My immortal' (the reallu stupid harry potter one? Yea.) so I've been tackling the task of actually finishing it and trying to figure out whether this girl is fucking kidding or what. Then I read her other stuff, which was equally as traumatizing. So I am really proud that I got this much done +more than usual distractions.**

**Songs:**

**Please don't leave me – pink**

**Lying is the most fun – Fall out Boy**

**Dragula – Rob zombie **

**(they totally fit together, I know.) **


	8. One step at a time

Quick note; I MAY (depending on whether I get it done or not), be selling the full illustrated doujinshi version of this story. I've been working hard to get the illustrating done up until this point. I hope to have it done by anime central 2011, but I doubt it… I may have a dealers table anyways regardless of whether this is finished or not. Depends.

Toushiro walked out of his room, pulling on a shirt as he went. The kitchen was right down the hall and he was there, pulling a chair to the small table in only a moments time. Momo glanced over her shoulder, her voice quiet "good morning."

Part of him felt like the night before had been a dream, the way she was acting, it seemed as though she felt the same way. His lips twitched slightly in a grin, "morning."

The kitchen was silent until she finished breakfast, which was waffles, bacon, eggs and a delicious light pink syrup.

As he tasted it, he looked across the table at her, "Where did you manage to find this?"

She smiled slightly, "It's not really syrup, it's actually honey. There's a small shop a town over that I heard a couple ladies talking about at work and I thought I would try to find it."

He nodded, "How did you make it a town over?"

Taking a drink of water to clear her throat, she said, "Oh, I took the train."

They fell into silence while they finished eating but as Momo began clearing the table, she asked, "What are you going to do about this whole mess at your work?"

He sighed, "I should probably go talk to my boss today and see what he's decided he's going to do with us. And see about whether I even still have a job there or not."

She nodded, "Well I have to go to work today. I'm going to go get ready."

He gave a slight nod to her as she walked out of the kitchen. It was oddly tense, but still friendly enough. They were both putting effort into making it better, almost too much effort.

Hinamori grabbed her folded clothing off of her bed, a simple pink tee-shirt, with a long brown shirt, and headed for the shower. As soon as the water heated up she stepped in, shocked at the sudden change in temperature but slowly adjusting. Staring down at the floor of the shower, she thought about their present relationship. Her heart skipped at how they had talked that morning, even if it was tense, she still felt as though it was one of the biggest leaps and the best things to happen in several years for her.

It wasn't until a knock sounded at the door that she realized she had simply stood in the shower until her hands had shrivelled. "Uhhmm. Just a minute."

Hurrying she scrubbed her body and washed her hair as fast as she could. As she stepped out of the shower, she caught her foot on the rim of the tub and fell out with a thud. A hand hit the door, "Are you okay?"

Momo blushed despite knowing he couldn't see her and said, "Yeah. Just tripped."

She heard him laugh quietly as he walked away from the door. She smiled and pushed herself off the floor in a jump. Hurrying, she threw her hair up, dried off and got dressed.

Glancing at the clock in the living room as she stepped out of the bathroom, she shrieked. She was going to be late!

Grabbing her coat, she slid her feet into her sandals and ran around the house trying to find her bag with her keys. As she turned to head back through the hallway, Toushiro stepped out of the kitchen with her bag laying limply across the palm of his hand, "Need this?"

She nodded her head fastly and said, "Oh yeah. That is what I was looking for."

He handed it to her and said, "Hang on, I'll walk you. I need to go to the site anyways."

She nodded but said, "I'm in a hurry, we need to go now then."

Toushiro followed her out the door, locking it as they went.

The sky was cloudy, and the air felt dense but there was no rain in sight as of yet. Momo was fast walking as Toushiro trailed closely behind her in silence. Although they had just made up, and they were still unsure of each other, they already began feeling more comfortable in the others presence.

As they reached the front of the flower shop, Kunai stood outside, leaning against the door frame. He smiled and waved to her, "Hey Momo" She smiled politely and said, "Hello Kunai-san."

Toushirou immediately picked up to keep up with her, angry at the man's use of her name without an honorific. He wasn't that close to her, and Toushirou didn't want him to be. As they stopped on the sidewalk in front of the flower shop, Momo turned to him and quietly said, "Well, good luck." He nodded to her and leaned down to place a gentle kiss on her cheek.

She turned to head into the building and Kunai turned almost immediately as she passed. Toushiro started walking away, freezing a few steps away as he heard Kunai speak, "You don't have to tell me, but I was kind of curious; Are you guys in an arranged marriage?"

He heard Momo stumbled over her words, his anger building, "Why, ofcourse not! What would give you such an idea?" Her denial somewhat calmed him though he wasn't sure why.

Kunai was quiet for a moment before saying, "Well... whenever you guys are together, you don't seem very affectionate like most newly weds... and you just seem more like... friends or acquaintances."

The word "Aquaintances" stung both of them, it hurt to hear from an outside source that they even noticed that they had grown so far apart. Momo's voice was so quiet, toushiro barely picked it up, "The stress of moving to a new town is hard on us. Our marriage was not arranged, it is not fake, we are very much in love. Please do not question my relationship with my **husband **any further."

Toushiro felt his face grow hot as he started away, his heart was thumping so hard it felt as though his throat was going to close. There was something he knew, he just didn't want to admit. Momo calling him her husband, saying that they were married, saying that they were in love just got to him. He wouldn't admit it, even to himself, but he wanted it to be true.

As he approached the office, dread grew in his stomach at the conversation that was about to conspire. As he knocked on the door, a low, gruff voice mumbled, "Enter."

He turned the knob and peered in, "Sir? I was wondering if you had time to talk about-"

The man barked "yeah. come in Hitsugaya."

Toushiro stepped into the office and made his way to the chair across from the desk from the large man that was his boss. The man looked up, anger present in his face, "You can start by telling me what the hell started that and why you did it."

Toushiro looked down, it was embarrassing, but he didn't want to tell him about Momo. He, infact, wished none of the pig-like men he worked with had ever seen her, but he couldn't turn back time, "He made a remark about my wife that took a joke too far. I was angry and I hit him."

The man gave a hoarse, sarcastic laugh, "You hit him? ha. More like continuously beat him. I understand not wanting another man making jokes about your wife or your lover or whatever she is, but that is not a good enough reason for getting into a physical fight at a workplace. I've yet to have any other complaints about you, and I have had several about him, but this is not going to help us assign you to a new site when this one is over."

Toushiro stared at him for a moment, "Are you saying that I still have a job working with this company?"

The man nodded, "You're not the first man to ever get into a fight on the work sites, it just makes it a lot easier when you guys just take jokes as they are. I will have to suspend your work though for a week. You can come back next Monday."

Toushiro nodded, "Thank you sir." and stood to leave.

**Sorry this is super short guys, I'm just swamped and still not having a very easy time writing. I'll try to update more consistently now.**


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